June 2007 - Wits Woodworking Association

June 2007
Crosscut
Newsletter of the Witwatersrand Woodworkers’ Association
PO Box 411346, Craighall, 2024
Reproduction of Stanley #1 - See http://www.supertool.com/601.htm - yours for only $595-
Secretary: Kenneth Jackson (kennethj AT mweb.co.za 083 256 1823)
Editor: Trevor Pope (tpope AT iafrica.com). All written content and opinions are those of the editor, unless stated. © Copyright reserved.
Go to http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/tpope/homepage.html for back issues of Crosscut.
Next Main Club Meeting on Wednesday, the 13 th June from 18h00 at the WWA clubhouse at
REEA. Talk on a new range of wood finishes by Timberlife.
Next Turner’s monthly meeting is on Monday, the 4 th June at 18h00 at the new WWA
clubhouse at REEA. Buddy Lawson will give a demo on chasing threads by hand.
News
May Main Club Meeting. At the AGM, the previous committee agreed to stand and was duly
elected. Two additional members (Paul and Richard) were co-opted onto the committee. Paul
will assist Dave with organising topics for meetings and the prizes for the year-end braai.
Richard will assist with the monthly Raffle and the Show-and-Tell. Norman Cheerin showed a
simple method of staining using a spirit based stain. He also managed to squeeze in the odd
joke.
The 2007/2008 committee members and their contact details are listed here:
Chairperson Jenny Tomlinson 082 885 5090 (011) 613-8341 jenny@regency.co.za
Secretary Kenneth Jackson 083 256 1823 kenneth.jackson@tsohle.co.za
Treasurer Glenn Lopich 082 442 7792 glenn_laura@iafrica.com
Editor Trevor Pope 083 388 2214 (011) 622 7018 (h) tpope@iafrica.com
Faulty, just for a change!
Member Costa Carastavrakis 072 244 3220 costacaras@telkomsa.net
Member Dave Fincham 083 679 8411 Dave.fincham@za.didata.com
Member Paul Moldovanos 084 472 7430 (011) 486 4189 paul@optimaxmail.co.za
Member Richard Duncan 083 296 5077 (011) 908 3884 xiii@mtnloaded.co.za
Turner’s Rep. Steve Barrett 083 556 2690 (011) 408-8910 (w) Steven.barrett@liberty.co.za
May Turner’s Meeting. At the turner’s section AGM, Shorty Oberholzer, Rick Florence and
Grant Mansell-James stood down and three new members were elected. John Speedy and Dries
Blignaut demonstrated methods to mount work using hot-melt glue. This is useful for
remounting pieces that are finished on one side. They can be mounted on the reverse side so that
the other side can be finished. They showed different approaches for centring pieces once glued,
before the glue cools and sets. John’s approach is a simple one, mostly working by eye. Dries
uses a special jig, custom made for him by Lionel, to reduce the uncertainty to a minimum. Both
techniques can give an accurately remounted platter.
The members of the 2007/2008 turner’s section committee are:
Chairperson Steve Barrett 083 556 2690 (011) 408-8910 (w) Steven.barrett@liberty.co.za
Secretary John Somersvine (011)4691514 0825529331 svine@global.co.za
Treasurer George Simpson (011) 662-2052 072 7833702 gfsimpson@sentechsa.com
Members Dries Blignaut 0832655192 dries@lyncon.co.za
Chris van Heeswijk 0824692964 Cvanhees@goldfields.co.za

June 2007 - Page 2
From the committee:
Clubhouse Floor. The levelling and painting of the floor was completed just in time for the first
meetings of May. A durable grey epoxy coating was applied and this should stand up to many
years of wear and tear. Thanks to Costa for organising and supervising this work. It has made the
clubhouse much more habitable.
Training. Don’t forget to consult the list of courses on the notice board. Payment for courses booked
will be in advance, to ensure attendance.
Toymakers. The toymakers meet on the first and third Monday of every month, at 09h00 till 12h00 at the
new clubhouse. Contact Eddie Marchio on (011) 678-8062 or renato@pixie.co.za for more information.
Wednesday Workshop. The Wednesday evening workshop is on the first and third Wednesdays of the
month, from 18h00 till 20h00. Contact Winston Klein on (011) 674-1513 for more information.
For Sale:
Router – Startel Pro 1900W, with 12 bits, micrometer depth gauge, variable speed, spindle lock and rubber grips. Brand
new, not used. Asking R1000-. Contact Ivor Appleton on 011 646 3034 after hours.
Dewalt planer / thicknesser model dw50. Excellent condition - fully reconditioned. R4500-00.
Ryobi thicknesser model ap-10. Made in Japan. R1500-00. Contact Norman Cheerin on 082.443-7325.
Approximately 3 cubic metres of timber, including Iroko, Meranti, Imbuia, etc. Sizes range from 600mm to 1200mm.
Please contact Russell on 076 972 4999 or rgerlag@mf.co.za. Russell is based in the south of Johannesburg.
Adjusting and Using the Stanley Number 78 Rebate Plane
Trevor Pope
The first section is copied from http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan10.htm - by
Patrick Leach - well written and duly acknowledged.
#78 Duplex fillister and rabbet plane, 8 1/2"L (8 1/4", 1936 on), 1 1/2"W, 3lbs,
1885-1973.
This is another popular Stanley plane, on
which the company built a great fortune.
Nearly every workman of the time had one of
these planes in their kits. This plane was so
popular and functional, that it still is made
today. Any hand tool enthusiast should
consider this plane, or one like it, be it a
competitor's or a wooden version, as part of
his arsenal.
The plane has two beds for the cutter - one
positioned for normal work, and the other for
bull-nose work. The cutter has no cap iron,
and is held in place by a thumb screw
activated lever cap. Earlier models, with the
common floral vines cast into the handle,
required hand adjustment to set the iron, but

June 2007 - Page 3
in 1925, a lever, which engages machined grooves in the backside of the iron, was provided to
accomplish this. Around 1910, the handle has a fish scale-like pattern cast into it.
There is an adjustable depth stop on the right hand side of the plane, secured in place by a thumb
screw. Directly below the depth stop, is a three-pronged spur to score the grain that sits flush with
the side of the plane. It can be turned up out of the way when it isn't needed. There is no spur on
the left of the plane.
A rod, threaded on one end, is used as the arm on which the fence is secured. The arm can be
attached either to the left of the plane, for working right-handed, or to the right of the plane, for
reversing the plane to work left-handed. This is a nice feature designed to handle problem grain
while working. However, there is no provision for the depth stop on the left side of the plane, so
you'll need to plane to a gauged line, or do it by eye, when using the plane left-handed. The
threaded rod has a hole drilled through it on its end. This hole permits a nail, or something
similar, to pass through it in order to tighten or loosen the rod. Many of the rods are bent right
where the threads start so check this area by unscrewing the rod - you'll notice whether it's bent as
you unscrew it.
The fence is secured to the arm with a thumb screw. Sometimes you'll find examples where the
thumb screw is replaced with a slotted round head screw. This is due either to the thumb screw
being misplaced, or the original thumb screw being stripped. Also, the fence is sometimes broken;
when the fence is attached to the left side of the plane, the back portion of the fence is longer than
the front portion by about 3/4". Look at the fence, with the thumb screw toward you. The aperture
for the arm should noticeably be to the left.
This plane is often found with parts missing - most often it is the depth stop and/or fence. You can
usually scrounge parts from other models, but this approach usually ends up costing you more for
an assembled one than it does for buying a complete one. It's also possible to find the plane with
the section of the sole ahead of the bull nose bed snapped off. Some guys ground this section off
so that they could use the plane as a chisel plane or to worked stopped rabbets right to their very
end, which can't be done with this portion of the sole present. Planes that were accidentally
broken will have the section brazed back onto the main casting.
example of this decal).
The #78 pictured with its original
box dates from the 1920's, with the
most obvious clue being the depth
adjustment lever for the cutter. It
has the common decal on the
handle, which Stanley applied to
many of their planes and other
hand tools. It can be found applied
to the totes on the Bailey and Bed
Rock bench planes, special purpose
planes such as this one, sliding
bevels, try squares, etc. The block
planes and some of the other
smaller planes, like the #95, used a
smaller decal that's noticeably
yellow (see the #220 for an
This #78 also illustrates another common occurrence with Stanley - the use of early labels on
boxes of later planes. The label on this plane, often called the "picture label" because of the line

June 2007 - Page 4
drawing of the tool contained within, was in widespread use starting around 1905. When this
plane was made, Stanley was in the midst of what is known as the sweetheart era, where tools
have the heart logo stamped in them somewhere. Even the box labels had a tiny heart on them as
part of the logo. However, Stanley was also frugal in their unwillingness to toss something that
was still perfectly usable, in this case a label. So, here is a plane made during the 1920's with a
label used a few decades earlier. Keep in mind that it's impossible to date accurately Stanley stuff
by the boxes alone. Generally, the latest feature on the tool, in this case the label, is the more
accurate clue to the plane's approximate date of manufacture.
Adjustment and tuning of the #78
The term rebate or rabbet plane is refers to a plane without fences or depth stops. When
the plane is fitted with a fence and depth stop as shown, it is also called a fillister plane.
The Stanley #78 is the most common
rebate/fillister plane and as recorded
above, has been produced for over a
century. It is still used and is widely
available second hand as a result. It
has a square blade and a single spur
or nicker on the right-hand side. A
single rod projecting from the left side
supports the fence, as you can see
from the diagram. The design of the
Record #778 is slightly better in this
respect in that it has two rods to
support the fence, which is more rigid
as a result.
When buying second hand, be sure to
properly inspect the plane for cracks
and missing parts. As mentioned
above, sometimes the front toe is
broken off and often the fence and
depth stop are missing. Spares are still available from Stanley. Quote the plane model
and the name of the part from the list below, to get the right parts.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
DUPLEX RABBET PLANE
Plane Body
Adjusting Lever
Plane Iron or Cutter
Lever Cap
Lever Cap Screw
Fence Arm
Fence
Depth Gauge
Depth Gauge Screw
Washer
V-slide for Depth Gauge
Spur
Screw Hole for Fence Arm
The #78 can be used for making
fine adjustments to tennons, but if
you have one, a shoulder plane
(Stanley #90, #92 or #93 or
equivalent) with a finely set mouth
and low blade angle may be better.
To fine tune the width of a groove a
Stanley #79 side rebate plane can
be used after the #78 has done the
heavy cutting.
Continued next month.